Oklahoma State – can their offense make them BCS bowl contenders?
They’ve been knocking on the door for the last couple of years but, when it comes to making waves in the Bowl Championship Series, Oklahoma State has always been overshadowed by their state rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners.
Last year they went 11-2, with a heartbreaking loss to Oklahoma in the Bedlam game being the final nail in their season’s coffin. But they could be ready to utilise their dynamic offense to finally fire themselves to a BCS bowl.
With Brandon Weeden at quarterback and with star wide receiver Justin Blackmon returning for another year, they certainly have the capabilities to repeat the 520 yards per game average they achieved on offense last season. Even without Kendall Hunter in the backfield, the Cowboys have a decent rushing game with Joseph Randall showing promise as a freshman.
But there was one main reason the offense was potent enough to rank third nationally last year, former offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen. With Holgorsen now at West Virginia, OSU has brought in Todd Monken, which was the catalyst for one of the most intriguing stories of the past few years. With no experience in Holgorsen’s offense, Monken has had to learn the entire playbook from scratch, being taught by quarterback Weeden.
However, as Head Coach Mike Gundy pointed out, it is easier to make one guy adjust to a new offense than coach up an entire squad in a completely new system.
So with a new play-caller, who has had to learn from his player, is the whole dynamic of the offense going to be ruined?
It will certainly have an effect and when a team has a weak defence and relies on scoring more points than the opposition they have to be confident going out on offense. Weeden, now 27, will have to step up.
To compete with the likes of Oklahoma, Texas or Texas A&M, Oklahoma has to put big scores up on the board but will also have to stop teams on defense at some point. With this and their coaching situation in mind, Oklahoma State probably hit their heights last year.
Article courtesy of NJ Sharrocks.
